Congressional Committee Asks for Questioning with the Duke of York in Epstein Probe
A American legislative committee looking into pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein has sent a letter to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, previously Britain’s Prince Andrew, demanding that he participate in an interview as part of its inquiry into Epstein’s illegal activities.
In a communication released on Thursday, a lawmaker, the top Democrat on the House investigative committee, requested that King Charles III’s sibling cooperate with its inquiry.
The written appeal to provide testimony arrives a week after Mountbatten Windsor was stripped of his royal title and opted to give up his leased home in Windsor.
Records and Claims
Mountbatten Windsor’s name features in papers and travel logs obtained from Epstein’s estate and disclosed by the committee. He has also been charged by one of Epstein’s accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, of abuse.
“The committee will investigate claims of wrongdoing by Mountbatten Windsor, and will demand data on Epstein’s activities, network, and connections based on the men’s enduring and well-documented friendship,” the committee said in a announcement.
It demanded information from Mountbatten Windsor on specifics of his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York detention facility in 2019. Andrew has repeatedly categorically denied any misconduct.
Substance of the Request
“It has been widely reported that your friendship with Mr Epstein began in 1999 and that you remained close through and after his 2008 guilty verdict for trafficking underage girls for prostitution,” the letter said.
It continued: “It has also been alleged that you traveled with Epstein to his New York home, the Queen’s residence at Balmoral, and to Mr Epstein’s secluded island in the US Virgin Islands, where you have been accused of abusing underage individuals. This close relationship with Mr Epstein, along with the recently revealed 2011 digital communication in which you wrote to him ‘we are in this together’, further confirms our suspicion that you may have important details about the offenses committed by Mr Epstein and his partners in crime.”
A notification regarding the letter said it was endorsed by 13 other Democrats on the committee and demands a answer by 20 November.
Earlier Remarks and Cooperation
The letter comes a week after another Democrat on the committee told: “Andrew should be asked to appear before the panel. The citizens deserves to know who was abusing women and underage individuals alongside Epstein.”
However, the congressman does not hold the ability to subpoena the ex-royal and Congress itself cannot force evidence from a non-US citizen.
In 2020, US authorities said that Mountbatten Windsor did not cooperate to US appeals for an discussion. The then US attorney for the southern district of New York said that lawyers and the FBI had contacted Andrew’s lawyers to inquire on his previous pledge that he was “ready to help any relevant law enforcement agency”.
“It’s reasonable for people to know whether Prince Andrew has fulfilled with that public commitment,” the attorney said, adding that to date he had “provided no cooperation”.
Appeals for Transparency
The representative said in a announcement that “wealthy and powerful men have avoided the law for far too long. Now, ex- Prince Andrew has the option to be honest and provide redress for the survivors. The committee will not halt fighting for answerability and clarity for those affected of Epstein and his group of partners.”
Another supporter, a Virginia Democrat, said that after hearing evidence to the committee from Epstein’s survivors, as well as news accounts of disclosed papers, “it is essential that Andrew cooperates with the ongoing inquiry. If he is not guilty, then he can prove his innocence.”
The lawmaker continued: “And if not, our investigation will reveal that, and the survivors will receive belated redress. The royal household’s actions removing Andrew of his honors show there is further to this situation.”
The letter was sent on the same day the British king formally revoked Mountbatten Windsor of his royal title. Charles III publicly made the adjustment – which had been revealed a week ago – by issuing a “letters patent” which the monarch’s office published in the Gazette, the UK’s public registry.
